


The Side Effects of Time Travel

by traccigaryn



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Episode: s07e11 Shattered, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-25 23:23:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20034046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/traccigaryn/pseuds/traccigaryn
Summary: Caution. Side effects of time travel may include introspection, light angst, and too many what-ifs.A brief encounter with Voyager's original First Officer leads to a late night discussion about command styles. Yes, that's what it's about.A Shattered tag.





	The Side Effects of Time Travel

The second bottle of cider was doing its job.

"Surely there's something about your trip through Voyager's timeline you can tell me without violating the Temporal Prime Directive, Chakotay," she teased. He might even characterize it as begging. "A little tidbit that won't cause the universe to unravel. Maybe crewmembers you found necking in the corridor? Oh! Another one of Neelix's attempts to get Tuvok to let his hair down. Tell me _something_."

He laughed, and it felt good to laugh with her again. The evening had felt more like old times than any he could recently recall, and he found himself sending up a quick thank you, not for the first time, that he'd had the chance to meet her, whatever the circumstances. 

_It could have been totally different._ The thought ran through his mind unbidden, and he saw a flash of Cavit's face. Before today, he'd never met Lt. Commander Cavit, Kathryn's original First Officer, who had been killed when Voyager was dragged into the Delta Quadrant seven years before. He'd read Cavit's few First Officer reports, of course, and heard the name mentioned a handful of times early on, but in many ways, it had always felt like he'd been the first and only man to stand at the Captain's side on this journey. 

What if it had been Cavit who'd survived the violent journey to the Delta Quadrant, not Kathryn? Would he have even considered joining Voyager's crew? Would he be without a home, as well as lost in space?

"Chakotay? Where did you go just now?" He heard the concern in her voice. "You suddenly looked so … bereft."

He felt her hand grasp his. Without thinking, he intertwined his fingers with hers and placed his other hand on top, as if to seal them together once more.

She leaned in slightly, angling her face so she could meet his eyes.

"Tell me. Can you?"

Whatever she'd seen in his face had alarmed her. He deliberately tried to keep his response calming, factual. "Sorry. Nothing major. It's just …" Then found himself impulsively intoning in the dull voice of one reading a manual, "Caution. Side effects of time travel may include introspection, light angst, and too many what-ifs."

She smiled slightly to let him know they were both okay, then waited for him to continue.

He decided to risk one small detail. "I met someone new today. Cavit, and he … wasn't welcoming. Followed us into your Ready Room, trying to ensure I was secured in the brig." He felt her hand tighten momentarily in his. "It suddenly made me realize how different things could have been."

"We took the measure of each other pretty quickly, didn't we? Faster than any of the others did."

"We had to. We were in charge. But here's the thing. I didn't realize it had affected me so much the first time around. I didn't accept the offer to be your First Officer here just because I thought it was the best way to approach the situation. I said yes because it was you asking. If it had been Cavit in command, and he'd miraculously not confined us all to the brig, I just wonder if I wouldn't have told him to let us off at the closest inhabited planet. That we'd make our own way home."

Her eyes twinkled. "Now that you mention it, I rather suspect that if it had been the two of you vying for command, this would be a Maquis ship today."

He grinned at her, dimples and wolfish authority on rare display. Her eyes darkened and her smile widened in response.

"Too late now, mister." 

As they quietly basked in their enjoyment of each other's company, he was also very conscious that he still held her hand. She had always been tactile with him, but her touches were usually brief. A clasp, a pat. Yet on the few occasions he allowed himself to reciprocate, like tonight, she seemed in no hurry to move away. He decided he wouldn't be either.

After a moment, she continued, "Cavit was a good officer, he was. But he had a very … rigid sense of duty. Not one for second chances. He was adamantly opposed to bringing Tom Paris aboard, and he thought our mission to capture all of you wasn't just the right Starfleet response but the morally correct thing too."

"I can't say I thought any more highly of Paris being around myself."

"No, but you changed your mind. You saw he'd changed, and you were willing to let go of the past."

After a moment's thought she said, "By the same token, I don't know if I would have been willing to have any of the other Maquis as my First Officer either. Can you imagine B'Elanna and me together, if you hadn't been there to guide us at the start?"

Chakotay chuckled. "Okay, a little part of me wishes I could have seen that." Then he sobered again. "How, in all of this, did we get lucky enough to find each other?"

"Find someone who complements you, not who always agrees with you," Kathryn recited. "They said that over and over in Command School, and it made sense. I agreed with it. It's part of why I chose Cavit over the other applicants for First Officer." She paused then continued, almost to herself. "But I never really understood it until I met you. How courageous and complete it can make you, to have someone by your side who makes you better."

Chakotay opened his mouth to respond but couldn't bring coherence to his sudden whirl of thoughts. Should he steer them back to safer ground once more? Renew a promise he'd made long ago on a distant planet?

Kathryn too seemed to realize how much more there was to what she'd said than the words.

Her hand flexed in his. "Well. Suffice it to say, we lucked out, and we make a good team. We should write an article about it for _Starfleet Command Journal_ when we get home."

He laughed, as he knew he was supposed to, and gently released her hand. The moment, as always, passing them by.

They finished their cider and said their goodnights.

But later, as Chakotay prepared to sleep, he carefully tucked the conversation away, deep and safe. They'd found each other once, against all odds. They'd find each other again.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic of] The Side Effects of Time Travel](https://archiveofourown.org/works/24178981) by [traccigaryn](https://archiveofourown.org/users/traccigaryn/pseuds/traccigaryn)


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